Chapter 43: Teasing Him

She weighed 200 jin—no figure to speak of, no looks to boast about. Compared to Mu Chenze, who was handsome, charming, broad-shouldered, slim-waisted, and always turned heads, she was simply no match at all.

Honestly, she felt like just saying this was an insult to him.

Hopefully, it would make him angry.

People are more likely to tell the truth when they're mad.

Mu Chenze stretched out his hands, gesturing in the air to show the size of her waist, then his own, half-joking, half-serious. “A good match? We’re clearly not even in the same weight class. You actually think I like you? Chu Xuan, don’t flatter yourself, okay? I don’t want a wife who wastes so much fabric making clothes and takes up the whole bed when she lies down.”

He said it on purpose.

In fact, he wanted to provoke Chu Xuan, to motivate her to lose weight.

Otherwise, if she stayed this overweight, it would affect her health and lifespan.

Chu Xuan knew him well. She knew he was all bark and no bite, so she wasn’t angry at all. Instead, she smiled. “Then why don’t you tell me why you have to keep it a secret?”

Mu Chenze realized that if he didn’t give her a good reason today, she wouldn’t let it go.

“Keeping it a secret for now is for your reputation! I can’t let the villagers gossip that you kissed someone and then turned down a marriage proposal, and now we’re acting like buddies. How will you ever get married in the future? I’m helping you because I’m grateful you didn’t marry me. Even if I told the villagers that, they wouldn’t believe me—they’d just make up more stories about you. Besides, my family wouldn’t believe it either. They’d just think I like you, and then they’d pester you to marry me. Wouldn’t that be forcing you? Anyway, just remember, I don’t like fat girls! The only reason I proposed to you in the first place was out of responsibility, got it?”

Chu Xuan finally got a satisfactory answer and grinned, her eyes narrowing into slits. “So you’re doing it for my sake! Thank you! Actually, I don’t care about my reputation, because I never planned on getting married in this lifetime. And you’d better not let your family think you like me, or with how much your mom dotes on you, she’ll be at my house every day, doing chores for free and trying to convince me to marry you.”

Mu Chenze gave her a thumbs-up. “If you really never get married, you’ll be one of the people I admire most! And you really do know my mom well.”

Chu Xuan thought to herself, How could I not? In my previous life, your mom was my mother-in-law.

Qin Mahua really doted on her son.

Out loud, she just said, “I know her a little, that’s all.”

Mu Chenze said seriously, “Our partnership is already set in stone. If you don’t want my family to misunderstand, we have to keep it secret for now, so you don’t get dragged into unnecessary trouble.”

Chu Xuan agreed readily. “Okay, I’ll keep it absolutely secret. By the way, I heard you scared off your blind date the other day? With you like this, which matchmaker would dare set you up again?”

Mu Chenze looked disdainful. “I’m still young, I’m not in a hurry to get married. I already told my mom I want to focus on making money for a few years. If I still haven’t found a girl I like by thirty, then I’ll consider blind dates.”

Chu Xuan clicked her tongue, looking regretful. “Waiting that long to date is such a waste of your good looks.”

“I like it that way!”

With that, Mu Chenze ignored Chu Xuan.

Chu Xuan wanted to tease him some more, but he glared at her, so she had to shut up.

The two of them walked to the bus stop, one after the other. The driver hadn’t started work yet.

They were early.

They stared at each other.

With nothing to do, they each took out the food they’d brought and started eating.

At five in the morning, they caught the first bus.

They transferred to another bus in the county.

At seven, they arrived in town. Mu Chenze said he had something to do and didn’t go with her.

Chu Xuan gave him five jin of pears and watched him leave.

Sharing pears (“fen li” in Chinese sounds like “separation”) symbolized parting ways. The two of them would never end up together in this life, so the Mu family wouldn’t be implicated by her family’s troubles.

Mu Chenze had no idea what Chu Xuan was thinking. He was just happy, because he loved eating pears.

There was no cart back to the village at that hour, so Chu Xuan carried her sack and started walking home. She saw the village tractor and waved it down, hoping to hitch a ride.

The trailer was loaded with red bricks.

The driver, Liu Dapeng, was worried about hitting someone, so he had to brake.

When he saw her big frame, he shook his head in fear and refused to give her a ride.

She didn’t want to walk all the way back.

So, in a good-natured tone, she bargained, “Liu Dapeng, how about this? I’ll drive the tractor, you stand on the hitch between the cab and the trailer. When we get to the village entrance, I’ll give you a dime.”

Liu Dapeng looked her up and down in disbelief. “You’re kidding, right? You know how to drive a tractor?”

“I really do! If you don’t believe me, I’ll show you. Get down.”

Liu Dapeng wanted to refuse, but he was no match for Chu Xuan.

He didn’t really get down on his own—Chu Xuan basically lifted him off.

No point in worrying.

Because Chu Xuan was already in the driver’s seat, starting the tractor.

The tractor drove smoothly for more than ten meters. Now he really believed her.

“Wait for me!”

He ran after the tractor.

Chu Xuan braked slowly, waited for Liu Dapeng to stand on the hitch, then started driving again.

Neither of them noticed Mu Chenze in the distance.

Actually, Mu Chenze had wanted to hitch a ride back on the tractor too, but Chu Xuan beat him to it.

Liu Dapeng was a notorious blabbermouth—this was a good opportunity.

Hopefully, he’d spread the news that Chu Xuan could drive a tractor all over the village.

That way, Chu Xuan would have another way to earn money.

Mu Chenze didn’t call out to them. Walking back was fine too—he could enjoy the fresh country air, get some exercise, and clear his mind.

Twenty minutes later, the tractor stopped at the village entrance. Taking advantage of the fact that no one was around, Chu Xuan hopped off, handed Liu Dapeng a dime, thanked him, and strode away.

Liu Dapeng was left standing there, replaying the scene of her driving the tractor in his mind.

When Chu Xuan got home, she saw Gao Meijuan and the others already cleaning and skinning fish.

Widow Wang had delivered the fish early today, so she called everyone over.

Chu Xuan took out the pears she’d bought in town, washed them, and handed them out.

They all said they’d eat them later, not wanting to waste work time.

Chu Xuan realized she’d found herself a group of very dedicated workers.

Chu Feng handed her a bowl of herbal medicine.

He’d been the one boiling the medicine and making sure Chu Xuan drank it these past few days.

If it weren’t for him, Chu Xuan would have forgotten to take her doses.

After finishing the medicine, Chu Xuan was about to go back to her room to catch up on sleep.

There was a knock at the door.

“Is this Chu Xuan’s house? I’m here to buy fish livers, fish heads, and the like.”

Chu Xuan opened the gate and saw a man in gray work clothes, smiling at her from the doorway.

There was a small truck parked behind him.

Chu Xuan greeted him proactively, “You must be Boss Bai Xiaotian? Please come in!”

Bai Xiaotian replied politely, “That’s right. Let’s take a look at the fish livers first.”

“Sure!”

In the yard, everyone else kept working—this wasn’t their concern.

Chu Xuan led Bai Xiaotian into the mud-brick house and opened the lid of a big jar.

Bai Xiaotian inspected it, then closed the lid. “Stored pretty well. Let’s check the fish heads?”

Chu Xuan was more concerned about the price. “The fish heads are piled up in the yard, take a look. How much are you offering per jin for the fish livers?”"